


Isolationist

by anomalation



Category: One Direction (Band), Sky High (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Electricity, Flying, Multi, Superheroes, Telepathy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-17
Updated: 2013-12-17
Packaged: 2018-01-04 22:38:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1086481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anomalation/pseuds/anomalation
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A Sky High AU where Harry can fly, Louis is shocking (literally), and Zayn really wishes Harry would stop thinking details at him during every spare moment.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Isolationist

Zayn feels everything. Some of the kids can block him out now, but most of them can’t. He hears how scared they are, feels a billion different sensations while they test out their powers to make sure they won’t be embarrassed. Fire ripples over his fingertips, and then they freeze. Electricity buzzes over his skin and then his stomach flips for a second. It’s too much.

He tunes it out. There’s a few tricks by now. He turns his music up to focus on that, doodles on his schedule with a Sharpie and imagines a box pressing down all the feelings. A really heavy box, just crushing the hell out of everyone else’s thoughts and sensations so he can have a second to breathe.

The seats around him get filled, which makes it harder to keep up his walls. Someone brushes his hand then, and he gets a spark up his arm as well as a flash of thought from the boy. _Fucking green eyes… is he gay?... shocked the beautiful_ -

“Sorry mate,” the lad says aloud, snagging the seat next to him. “It’s hard to control when I’m nervous. I’m Louis.”

“Zayn,” Zayn says aloud, flexing his hand. “Electropath?”

“Yep. How’d you know? Psychic or something?”

“Yeah.”

Before Louis can respond, a gangly mess of a person clatters into the seat behind him. Zayn immediately knows who Louis was feeling about. “Is this the right class?” the kid asks, green eyes sparkling. “Introductory powers?”

“Yeah,” Louis manages breathlessly. Zayn feels sympathetically sick to his stomach for a second, before he pushes it down.

“I’m Harry,” Harry announces excitedly, and the stars in his eyes are so bright, Zayn has to look away.

“Zayn,” Zayn says.

“Louis.”

“Niall,” a blue-eyed boy says, sitting in front of Louis and turning sideways. “Hi, I’m Niall. I do stuff with ice.”

“Stuff?” Louis raises an eyebrow.

“Yeah, I dunno. I’m not good at controlling it sometimes.” Niall shrugs.

Louis has already moved on. “Take a look at the nerd,” he whispers, motioning at the front of the room. There’s a guy sitting there with a notebook and pencil straight on the desk, hands folded. Zayn opens up for a second to feel him; he’s got his own huge box on top of his feelings, shutting them down.

Zayn frowns for a second. “Don’t,” he says.

“Don’t what?”

“Don’t judge him, you don’t know what he’s like.”

Louis snorts. “Oh, and you do?”

Zayn just stares at him. “Yes.”

Class starts. Zayn spends a few minutes not paying attention to try something; he does his best to push serenity into the boy at the front of the room. It gives him a stress headache, but for a second, the kid – Liam – seems less terrified.

The professor, Dr. Zak, hands out packets for each of them. “The powers tests are out of the curriculum, but you did have to disclose the ones you’re aware of in the application,” he says as he passes out papers. “So each packet is tailored to you. The sections are similar, so we can discuss them, but they’re specific to you. We’re going to begin with the basics. Answer the questions in section one, and we’ll talk after you’re all done. Okay? Get to work.”

Zayn opens his packet. First question: What’s the first memory you have of using your power?

Easy. Zayn remembers it well. He was six, and he asked his mum why she was always sad. He didn’t understand what a miscarriage was, but he picked the word out of her mind like she told him out loud. He would’ve had another sister. And that’s something he thinks he could’ve gone without knowing, and wishes he would have.

He writes down something about knowing what his present was before he opened it.

Second question: What are different ways your power shows itself?

Zayn figures he should be honest about that. He writes down the truth. _mind reading, empathy, changing peoples emotions_. He hesitates before adding a last thing; _sometimes see flashes of the future, but not always right_. It never feels like prophecy. It feels like another thought, except that it comes true sometimes.

There’s a multiple-choice section next.

_Amount of control you have over your power_

He picks the second highest option.

_How much you enjoy your power_

Not a whole lot, but it’s not bad. He picks the thing in the middle.

_How powerful you think you are_

Zayn chooses something in the middle again; he’s alright, but knowing what someone wants doesn’t mean you can stop it.

_How much you enjoy helping people_

Not a lot. It’s kind of hazardous to him. He picks the second lowest option, because hypothetically, he’d like to. But in actuality, it rarely works out.

“Hey kids, look up for a second,” Dr. Zak says. Zayn catches a flash of his thoughts and has to put the heavy box back in his head. “Okay, so the whole sidekick thing is done; they got rid of that awhile ago. Instead we’re going to be in groups of five or six. Try to mix up the powers. If you don’t, your funeral, okay? And discuss your answers amongst yourselves.”

Zayn knows who’s going to ask him a split second before Niall is saying, “All four of us, then, how about that?”

“Sure,” Louis agrees quickly, sneaking a look at Harry.

“Okay,” Harry nods. Zayn’s stomach flops again, like sympathetic motion sickness, which doesn’t make a lot of sense.

They pull their desks a little together, turning to face each other.

“Hey, group in the back. The one with a telepath,” Dr. Zak calls out, so Zayn looks over. He’s pushing that Liam towards their group. “Here’s your fifth.”

“Great,” Louis says under his breath. Zayn feels the other two get a little curiously annoyed for a sec, but then he shuts down that. He doesn’t want to cheat at this.

Liam pushes his desk between Zayn and Niall. He risks a look around for a second; Zayn catches his eye but Liam looks away instantly. “Which one of you is the telepath?” Liam asks stiffly.

“Me,” Zayn says after a second. “Um. But I’m not… I can turn it off, kind of. I don’t listen most of the time.” He doesn’t expect that to make Liam feel better, and it doesn’t.

“What does it look like?” Harry asks curiously. “Is it like literally reading?”

“Uh, no. It’s more like hearing,” Zayn answers after a second. Nobody’s asked him that before.

“Like our voices?” Niall asks.

“No. Well, kind of. But not like you’re talking to me. Though I used to get the two confused sometimes. And emotions, too, I’m an empath.”

“Sounds like you’ve got an amazing set of powers, then,” Louis says grumpily.

“Not really,” Zayn says. “Feels like I’m drowning most of the time. But if I overhear something I’m not supposed to, I won’t tell anybody. You probably won’t be able to tell. But what about everybody else?”

“I can fly,” Harry volunteers happily. “I have to practice maneuverability, but I can. Sometimes I accidentally hover, so if you could tell me that’d be nice.”

The motion sickness makes a lot more sense now. Zayn takes just a peek at his thoughts. _Am I floating now? No… no. He’s pretty._ Harry’s blushing, glancing at Louis and back down again.

Zayn looks away. “What about you?” he asks Louis. “Electricity?”

“Obviously you would know,” Liam mutters.

“Hey.” Louis glares. “Don’t. I shocked him already today, don’t. Yeah, electricity. I’m not sure how much I can control it right now, but I can zap people, from like static to more like a Taser.”

“What about lightning?” Zayn asks after a second.

“I dunno,” Louis shrugs. “I’m not sure how. I’m kind of… fighting it still. I don’t want to hurt people. But first day of school and I already hurt somebody. So.”

“It didn’t hurt,” Zayn says. “It hurt before when you were testing it or whatever.”

Louis snorts. “Really? You felt that?”

“Yeah, everybody was doing it when they came in, and I hadn’t shut down yet.” Zayn shrugs, because Louis is grinning. “You’re not freaked out about that?”

“Hell no. Why should you be able to control it more than I can? At least you can turn it off mostly, that’s cool. Can you feel this?” Louis concentrates and Zayn gets a shock at his fingertips. He shoves Louis’ thoughts away.

“Jesus, yes,” Zayn says, glaring and shaking out his hand. “You massive dick.”

Harry and Niall giggle. Louis flushes. “Now tell me what I’m thinking,” he challenges.

“No way. I’m not coming anywhere near your psychotic brain. Niall, you do stuff with ice?” Zayn says as a subject change.

“Yeah,” Niall nods. “I can make myself colder inside. And I can freeze glasses of water or something. But no people yet. I turned rain to snow one time.”

“So cool,” Harry says happily. “And what about you?” he asks Liam.

“I control fire,” Liam says. _Barely_ , he adds loud in his head so Zayn can’t help but hear.

“Fire and Ice, look at that,” Louis says, pointing between Niall and Liam. “Badass team right here. I hope they teach us to do cool group attacks. I’ll start electric fires and you’ll put them out.”

Liam doesn’t laugh or smile. Zayn feels something like prison bars going up in Liam’s head. He’s trying to keep Zayn out, and Zayn doesn’t have the heart to tell him it won’t work.

“I can be in a different group,” Zayn says after a second. “If this is making you uncomfortable.” After he talks, he realizes it probably seems like a non-sequitor to everyone else.

“I’m not uncomfortable,” Harry speaks up first. “You can listen to check, I’m really not.”

Zayn listens for half a second. _Hi Zayn!_ _You’re really pretty too_. And Zayn smiles because he gets the feeling that Harry’s honest. Honest people are the best for him to be around. “Thanks,” he says. “But there are other people in the group.”

“I don’t mind,” Louis says after a second. “As long as you keep our secrets to yourself, which you definitely can, I think. You’re the quiet type.”

“Now who’s psychic,” Zayn says dryly.

Louis points at him. “Hey.”

“Yeah, I don’t care,” Niall shrugs. “Maybe you could help us figure out what we can do with our powers.”

“Sure,” Zayn nods.

So it’s down to Liam. Zayn tells himself he’ll leave if Liam wants him to, but part of him thinks that Liam should. He keeps that thought to himself. “Well?” he prompts after a second. Liam doesn’t answer. Zayn feels heat wash over his hands. “Liam,” he says after a second. “Watch your hands.”

They’re literally glowing, like embers. His desk looks a little more squishy than it should right now.

“Whoa,” Niall says calmly. He takes a deep breath and lets it out in a steady stream of freezing air over the desk. Then he cracks his knuckles and claps his hands once; frost dusts his desk. He takes Liam’s hands in his, ignoring his protests.

“Stop it, I’ll burn you,” Liam says, sharp with alarm.

“No you won’t.” Niall is utterly unconcerned. “Calm down, okay? I got scared one time and froze my phone, it cracked apart. Just breathe. I think it’s all about breathing, for me.”

“Okay.” Liam breathes. His thoughts cool as his hands do, and Niall relaxes his grip on Liam’s hands.

“You’re fine,” Niall says. “Don’t be nervous with us. It’s okay.”

“Okay,” Liam repeats after a second. “Thanks.” His hands seemed to have normalized. He takes a deep breath. “You can let go. Thanks.”

“No problem.”

Harry smiles. “We’re kinda accidentally perfect as a group, aren’t we?”

“Yeah,” Louis immediately agrees.

Zayn doodles on his notebook.

 

Zayn sits in the corner of the cafeteria, in the middle of a table where hopefully no one will want to join him. He keeps drawing almost constantly; here, the barrage of thoughts is almost unbearable.

“Hi.” Harry sits next to him. “What’s wrong? You look upset.”

“Nothing’s wrong,” Zayn shrugs.

“Something’s wrong. You look upset.”

“Lots of thoughts. And if they aren’t straightforward, I feel sick. A lot of them aren’t nice.” Zayn shrugs.

“You can listen to me,” Harry shrugs. “That’s okay. I won’t mind. And maybe another brain on your side would help you feel better.”

Zayn shrugs. “Okay, thanks.” He tentatively lets Harry’s thoughts closer. They’re innocuous enough, mostly about food. And with his happy dopey mind on Zayn’s side, he does feel a lot better.

Louis sits down across from them, his thoughts a chorus of observations about Harry. “Hey,” he says after a second. “Um. How are you?”

“Fine,” Harry manages, and his thoughts get jumbled for a moment.

Zayn’s stomach flops. “You’re floating,” he tells Harry.

“Thanks,” Harry mumbles, and settles back in his seat. _Gave myself away_ , he complains to himself. _He knows I like him, he knows._

“He doesn’t,” Zayn says. “Trust me.”

Louis frowns but Harry smiles. “Okay. Thanks. This is awesome.”

“I feel left out,” Louis frowns a little.

“Oh. I’m letting Zayn use my nice thoughts to fight off mean ones from other people,” Harry volunteers. “He tries not to listen, but I think he can’t help it sometimes.”

Zayn nods. “Groups make it tough.”

“If you think I’ll help, I’m happy to,” Louis says after a second. “I don’t know how nice my thoughts are.”

“It’s not _nice_ as much as it’s honesty,” Zayn says. “But I think you’d probably be fine.”

“What, from what you heard?”

“I guess.”

Louis shrugs. “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. Take a listen and keep it to yourself, alright?”

“I have so far.”

Zayn lets Louis in too, a little, and there’s two peoples’ thoughts mixed with his, but it feels like for once, they’re making him stronger. He can shut out most of everything else, dampen it to a dull blur. For a second, he gets caught up in a Louis’ spiral of thoughts about Harry - _he’s just so pretty and smart… nice… I want to squeeze his bum like a little nerf football –_ and has to shake himself out of it.

He feels Niall and Liam come over before they actually sit down. Liam’s sticking by Niall; he’s terrified of hurting someone, so he’s staying with the one person that can reliably cool him down.

“Hi!” Niall says happily. “What’s going on?”

“We’re letting Zayn borrow our brains so he can shut out everybody else’s,” Harry says. “I feel like we’re part of a supercomputer.”

Louis laughs, but Liam seems alarmed. Zayn speaks up. “You don’t have to if you won’t want. They volunteered.”

“Sure, I’m in,” Niall grins. “That’s so cool.”

“It’s really more overwhelming than anything else,” Zayn says. “Going to the mall is a nightmare.”

“So the brooding thing is a defense mechanism,” Louis says. “Interesting.”

Zayn rolls his eyes. “Whatever. I’d like to just get through the day.”

“You’ve got a team. It’ll be easy now,” Harry says.

And Zayn has to say, the kid’s got a point.

 

 

They reevaluate themselves every week. The same four questions; how his control is, how he’s enjoying it, how powerful he feels, how much he enjoys helping people. He’s not sure what the last question has to do with anything, but his answer changes. He likes helping the team. Their thoughts become familiar; he can pick them out of the crowd and focus on that. But the longer he stays around crowds, the less they bother him. He’s learning to tune it all out.

He piggybacks on Harry most often. Harry likes it, and he’s absolutely guileless. Even his embarrassing thoughts pass with not much more then a blush. Niall’s a close second. He’s as cool as his power. His least favorite is Liam; he’s all panic and iron boundaries that go up in flames. As far as Zayn can tell, he’s denying his power with everything he’s got.

Zayn can’t say he blames him. He hasn’t told them about the seeing the future yet. It freaks him out; he can’t imagine how they’ll handle it. But it kind of comes out on accident. Louis pushes Liam one day at lunch, trying to nudge him out of the seat across from Harry so Louis can take it. Liam won’t move. Louis keeps pushing, physically and verbally.

It comes in a flash, as usual. He sees Liam turn and stand, grab onto Louis, and he sees Liam’s red-hot hands melt Louis’ clothes into his skin as he burns handprints into him. Louis screams, and Zayn snaps into reality. “ _Stop_ ,” he says desperately, because Liam hasn’t stood up yet.

“Make me,” Louis says flippantly.

Liam starts to stand.

“NO!” Zayn shouts. “Niall, please, his hands, he’ll burn him.”

Liam’s hands are already searing hot. Niall flinches when he first touches him; he has to freeze his hands to make any difference.

Louis is frozen, staring at Zayn in surprise. “How did you do that?” he says.

“I saw it happen.”

“You saw the future?” Louis demands.

Zayn hesitates. “A… a little. I read it, more like.”

“Okay, that’s not what I meant, though. I heard it in my head,” Louis says after a second. “You put your thought in my head.”

“Oh.” Zayn isn’t sure what to say. “I didn’t mean to.”

“I heard it too,” Niall nods. “Like he was talking two ways.”

Liam cuts in. “You saw me burn him?”

“Yeah,” Zayn admits after a second. “Handprints in his arms.”

“Louis, I didn’t mean to,” Liam says. His hands are still glowing. Niall dumps some water from his bottle out on the table and freezes Liam’s hands in it. That does better, until the water steams away.

“Okay,” Louis says. “I’m… um, sorry. Yeah.” He touches his own arms nervously, glances at Harry in his seat next to Zayn. And then Zayn realizes, Harry’s mind is mess.

“Hey,” Zayn says, turning. He only hesitates a second before wrapping his arm around Harry. He’s not touching skin, so the thoughts aren’t much stronger, but he can tell Harry’s a wreck. Jittery fear for Louis, adrenaline because he was ready to do something, and relief about to turn into tears. “Harry,” Zayn says quietly. “Can I help you?”

 Harry nods once.

“I’m gonna try to take your bad stuff, so you can breathe,” Zayn warns him. “Okay?” Another nod. Zayn shuts his eyes and concentrates. He knows Harry’s mind, so it’s easier to pick out the fear and replace it with something a little calmer.  He pushes a tad harder until Harry’s breathing evens out, and then lets go of him. “You alright?” he asks, just in case. Messing around in other peoples’ minds always makes him nervous.

“Yeah,” Harry nods, ducking his head into Zayn’s shoulder. “Thanks.”

Zayn motions Louis over into the seat on Harry’s other side and nudges Harry over to him. “Everybody’s okay,” he says. “So we’re fine, yeah?”

“Yeah. Thanks to you,” Liam says. “I thought you weren’t listening to us.”

“I wasn’t,” Zayn shakes his head. “But being connected to you… I mean I just heard it. I wasn’t trying. I can’t control it, anyways. That part’s the most unpredictable. And apparently, pushing my thoughts the other way.”

“Don’t be angry with him. He saved Louis,” Harry says in a soft voice.

“You’re floating,” Louis points out gently, holding Harry down with arms around his waist.

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

They’re both a little dopey with happiness. Liam’s grumpy and Niall’s neutral, so Zayn figure they’re safe for now. “I need air,” he says, and walks out.

He smokes out in the courtyard. He’s glad this school recognizes that smoking isn’t the worst thing a kid can do. The nicotine dulls his powers; it helps. He goes through three in no time.

“That’s not healthy,” a girl says, coming out to join him. “You know that, I’m sure, but I had to say it.”

Zayn looks up at her as he hears _God, he’s fit_ from her mind. He blocks it off. “Thanks,” he says without thinking, then corrects himself. “Um. Why’d you have to say it?”

“My mum’s a healer.”

Zayn nods. “Okay. What about you?”

“I got a version. But I have my dad’s storm powers too. Lightning, snow, rain, the whole bit. Not a lot of practical application, but it’s fun in a field.” She shrugs. “And you’ve got a headache.”

“Yeah,” Zayn says slowly. “How do you know?”

“I can sense pain. And I can make it better or make it worse. Can I make your head better?”

“Uh, you can try. It’s not just a headache, though. It’s a powers thing.”

“Okay. Well, I’m Perrie and I promise I can handle it.” She puts her hand on his temple.

“Zayn,” he says, a little breathless. Nobody’s been in his head before, even just his pain receptors. It’s nerve-wracking. But she narrows her eyes, concentrates, and the throbbing in his head is gone. “Is it hard?” he asks her.

“Nah. Like turning a dial. I turned yours to zero. But I could have it go up to eleven, if I wanted. But I don’t really do that.” She drops her hand.

“You’d be a pretty terrifying villain,” he says.

“You too. If you get your influence under control. All that emotional and thought projection? Impressive as hell.”

Zayn shrugs. “I don’t really think of it like that.”

“Yeah, I figured.” She glances at him, up and down. He doesn’t need to read her thoughts to know what she means. “But those kids don’t know what they’re dealing with.” She smiles, a little frustrated with herself. “Again. Not in a super villain way. But you shouldn’t feel bad for doing your best with what you’ve got.”

“No, I understand. It’s creepy to be able to read people’s thoughts without their permission. They don’t even know.”

Perrie frowns. “Okay. So?”

“So I know things I’m not supposed to know. The playing field isn’t even.”

“Okay,” she says patiently. “But this is a school full of people with _super powers_. None of the fields are ever even in any way.”

Zayn sighs. “Yeah. Okay.”

“I just saw you out here on your own, and I wanted to give make you feel better. You aren’t the bad guy,” she says awkwardly.

“I don’t want to be.”

“Convenient.” She smiles. “Find me sometime. We can show off for each other. I’ll summon some clouds, you tell me who I’m really in love with, Orlando Bloom or Johnny Depp.”

Zayn smiles. “Okay.”

“Okay.” She leaves, and he goes back inside soon after, feeling a lot better.

Liam stops him in the hall. “Hey, um. Zayn.”

“Hi,” Zayn says. He’s trying really hard not to read Liam, but nothing’s a hundred percent yet. He gets some twinges of nerves in addition to his own.

“You don’t have to try so hard,” Liam says. “If you overhear something, I won’t be upset.”

“Won’t you? You were every other time.”

“I didn’t understand… look, what you did for Harry was great.”

“Thanks. I know,” Zayn says patiently.

“Okay. Well. Um. Thanks for stopping me. I’d hate to hurt Louis. Or anyone.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Louis is hard to handle sometimes,” Liam says after a second, asking for understanding.

“Yeah,” Zayn says. “I guess. But he just wanted to sit across from Harry. It wasn’t a big deal, you didn’t have to… freak out.”

“Why by Harry?”

“Because they’re head-over-heels in goofy love with each other. How are you not aware of that?” Zayn says, smiling a little. “Harry literally floats when Louis is near him.”

Liam looks thoughtful. “There is that.”

“Yeah. So. Maybe let Louis sit there next time. There’s a billion other seats.”

“Okay. Sorry. I don’t even… I don’t know what they’re thinking like you do.”

Zayn sighs. “Fair enough. But we’re gonna be late.”

“Fine,” Liam nods. “I just wanted to tell you… I mean you try, really hard. And I didn’t mean to doubt you, like…”

“It’s fine.”

“No, really-“

“Liam, I know. It’s fine. We’re okay.”

Liam quirks up one corner of his mouth. “Right. Okay.”

They go into class. Harry jumps a desk to hug Zayn in his unnaturally long arms, face pressed into his chest. “You’re miraculous,” he says. “Thanks so much, I know you don’t like to use your power on people but you did to help me and I appreciate it a lot.”

“Okay,” Zayn says. So much skin-on-skin contact is freaking him out; it’s like he’s in Harry’s head with him, feeling his puppy-like enthusiasm jumping all over his thoughts. “Who’s the empath now?” he tries to tease.

“You are, and you’re amazing. Thank you so much.” Harry has to make an effort to keep his feet on the ground. Zayn holding him is apparently helping. Harry gives him a smacking kiss on the cheek and lets go.

“Oh my,” Zayn says, with a mental glance at Louis. He is not happy. “Okay,” he says, keeping Harry at arms’ length. “Um. You’re welcome. Can we take our seats now, or-“

“You don’t have to hold back,” Harry says. “I can feel you avoiding me.”

“How?” Zayn frowns.

“It’s a little… it like, dampens my brain.”

“What the hell?” Louis speaks up.

“It’s a little harder to fly. I’m heavier. It feels like you’re… there. A tiny bity piece of you,” Harry says, with fingers held a small distance apart to illustrate.

“Okay. I’m going to sit down now.” Zayn sits next to Liam. Harry claims the seat behind him, and Louis the one next to Harry. Niall slides in the desk in front of Liam and class starts.

Harry taps Zayn’s arm until he turns around. “You wanna hang out after school?” he asks. “All of us at my house?”

“Sure,” Zayn says.

“You could tell the other lads about it probably,” Harry suggests. “Mentally.”

“But you already invited them.”

Harry grins. “I did. But it was just a thought.”

So is everything, Zayn wants to say, but he keeps his mouth shut. Harry’s strange; he’s the only person Zayn’s ever met who’s happy that Zayn can read his mind. Zayn’s not quite sure what to do about that. The first option is to read everything. He doesn’t look for a second; he likes having another mind with him. It’s reassuring. Even if there’s a little too much fawning over Louis’ blue eyes in Harry’s thoughts for Zayn’s taste.

“I invited some other people,” Harry says after school, hanging out near Zayn’s locker. “Some girls. I hope that’s alright.”

Zayn gives him a look when he hears why in Harry’s head. “That’s a terrible plan, Harry. You can’t couple everyone one else up just like that.”

“I could,” Harry says stubbornly. “They’re pretty. I invited the girl who you were talking to in the courtyard today.”

Zayn raises his eyebrows. “What? Jesus Christ, Harry. We’re… we’re figuring it out, okay? Harry.”

“Sorry,” Harry says, looking upset. “I was trying to help and do something nice for everybody.”

“And for you too,” Zayn points out.

“Yeah.” Harry sighs. “It was so nice, the hug from him at lunch.” He leans against the lockers. “What about him, what did he think?”

“You know I can’t do that,” Zayn says, trying to hide how sympathetic he actually feels.

“Right, sorry. Unfair.” Harry sighs again. “I like him so much.”

“Well, he was the one that almost got his biceps burned off to sit by you, okay? I don’t really think you need to be a mind reader to work this out. And you also _really_ didn’t need to invite more people.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I forgot about how crowds are with you.” Harry’s frowning, genuinely upset. “I can uninvite them.”

“No, it’s okay,” Zayn sighs. “I’ll be fine. With your head too, it’ll be fine.”

“You’ve always got my head,” Harry promises. “It’s like when you hook up two computers so they can figure things out faster than one computer does. You’re like a Mac, though, and I’m only a Dell.”

Zayn smiles, laughs a little because Harry’s too sweet for his own good. “I’m not mad,” he says. “It’s fine. I won’t interfere with my powers, but I’ll try to do what I can, okay?”

“Awesome,” Harry says happily. “I could fly you to my house.”

“Can you even fly properly with another person?”

“No. But I could try.”

Zayn rolls his eyes and ruffles Harry’s hair, getting a flash of shining happiness from Harry’s mind. “Nah. Thanks, though. I’ll see you at your house, okay?”

“Okay.” Harry bounces off. Zayn starts to actually pack up, but no sooner does Harry leave than Louis comes up.

“What did Harry say?” he asks sharply.

“Nothing, he was talking about the study thing for tonight. He’s trying to play matchmaker, he invited a bunch of girls.”

Louis frowns, thoughts quickly spiraling downward. “Girls.”

“Yeah, for me, Niall and Liam,” Zayn says quickly. “He’s trying to pair everybody up. I’m sure it’ll be great.”

“Cool,” Louis says, slightly more happy. “You have a ride?”

“Yeah,” Zayn nods. He’s going to walk. He likes to walk.

“Okay. See you there.”

“Okay.”

“Bye Zayn!” Niall says cheerfully, walking past with Liam. “See you tonight.”

“Bye,” Zayn echoes with half a smile.

“This is weird for you,” Louis says wisely. “Friends. Isn’t it?”

Zayn gives him a long look. “Um. I guess.”

“Not in a dick way. Or in any way that would be criticizing you. I think… I think your power could be terrible in the wrong hands, and you’re really aware of that, so you’re really conscious about using it. Hey.” Louis waits for eye contact. “I totally trust you in my head,” he says then. “And I hope that’s not too weird.”

“No, it’s.” Zayn wishes he could use his power on himself, because he never wants to feel like this. It makes him feel vulnerable. “Here,” he says after a second. “Can I…”

Louis gives him his hand without a second thought. Zayn pushes all the things he’s feeling right now through to Louis. Not strong, just so he can tell what Zayn means. Louis’ grip tightens for a second, and then he pulls Zayn into a hug. “I’ll see you tonight,” he says. … _one of my best friends now_ , his mind says. _Just don’t get a big head. You only know_ almost _everything._

“See you,” Zayn agrees. “You didn’t shock me.”

Louis grins brightly. “Yeah, I dunno. I got it under control today. Maybe it was your calming thing. I think we all got a little bit of it when you made Harry okay.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. So bye.”

“Bye.”

 

 

It’s funny how differently everybody seems when they’re out of school. Zayn personally has headphones, which he uses to block out most of everybody else. He keeps his hands in his pockets and covers most of everything so nobody touches him.

Harry wears ankle weights. He notices when Harry answers the door; five pounds per ankle. “So I don’t float away,” Harry explains easily enough. “I ruined a few too many light fixtures.” Which Louis thinks is adorable and Zayn actually has to agree this time.

Louis keeps on fingerless gloves and a hat. Zayn thinks of it as insulation, kind of like his. He still gets something like static shock when he high-fives Louis, but he doesn’t mind.

Perrie’s got headphones on too, and a cute pair of socks that have cat faces on them. She smiles at Zayn and gives him a thumbs up.

Liam and Niall are next to each other on one couch, doing something that seems a lot like arm-wrestling but with their powers. Flames are licking between their palms, and frost is dusting both their hands. Liam’s in a tank top and Niall’s wearing a fuzzy hoodie.

Zayn decides to sit next to Perrie on the other couch. He takes the other half, sideways facing her but not touching her. He mentally flicks through all of their minds. Everybody’s okay, though Harry and Louis are both nervous about each other. Harry folds all his gangly legs up into the big plush chair Louis is sitting in, right next to him, and lays his head on Louis’ shoulder in a way that seems comfortable. Zayn hears Harry glowing about how he’s been cuddling with Louis for twenty three minutes now and smiles.

Perrie pulls her headphones down to around her neck. “Yeah, it’s a happy room overall. Liam and Niall got Harry to cancel on their lady friends, so I guess I’m the only peach in this sausage party. Sorry. Too much?” she adds.

Zayn’s smile grows. “No. It’s fine. Um. So.” He motions at the headphones. “Tuning it out?”

“It kind of sucks,” she nods. “I feel part of how everybody hurts within about a hundred feet usually, further if I try. Lucky for me, nobody’s around here in much pain, so I’m doing fine. How about these worksheets?”

“Yeah, we should get through that. Hey, lads,” Zayn speaks up. “Shall we?”

“Right.”

Zayn sees a flash of what’s coming and warns, “Li, your hands.”

“Thanks,” Liam mumbles, but he’s not angry. Niall hangs onto his hand, and they even out. Zayn can see their influence on each other in their heads. It’s kind of beautiful.

They’re a good team, the six of them. They work out answers and strategies cooperatively. Harry quietly adds something every few minutes, but mostly nods and cuddles against Louis. Perrie has a lot of ideas; she kind of takes the lead with Liam. She smiles with blinding brightness whenever Zayn approves of one of her plans. Niall’s opinions mostly involve how Batman would handle this.

“You should join our group,” Louis says near the end. He’s also been uncharacteristically quiet, but his thoughts have been going wild. “Would you like to? I think you should.”

“If I’m allowed. Yeah, sure. You guys are fun.” She winks at Zayn. It’s breathtaking; he literally forgets to breathe for a second. And she knows it.

“Okay,” he says then. “Great.”

“What am I thinking right now?” she challenges.

He gives her a long look, trying not to like her, and then listens. _...is there only one heterosexual couple in this room? Ridiculous._

Zayn laughs. “Nice. But I don’t know if it’s true.”

 _They’ve been holding hands for hours._ Her thoughts ring out clearer than anyone’s have, like she said that with a quirk of her eyebrow. And she’s right, he sees when he turns around. Harry and Louis both look unbelievably smug, hands linked loosely between them. And Niall and Liam have their arms twisted together for security. They’re safe like that.

“One doesn’t count,” he murmurs.

“Which?”

He sighs, holds out his hand a little hopefully. She takes it, and he tells her mentally. _Li and Niall. They don’t want to burn the house down._

She raises her eyebrows, frowns a little and tilts her head. “Whoa. Okay. Fair enough. Time will tell.” She doesn’t pull her hand away immediately, and Zayn’s pulse spikes a little.

“I guess,” he says. “Harry, your mum’s coming.”

“Thanks,” Harry says, blushing and scooting away from Louis a little. He drops his hand, too, and Louis is so hurt. He shifts and sparks fall from the folds of his clothes. “Hey Mum,” Harry says a little too loud when she comes in the door.

“Hey love. Who’s this?”

As Harry introduces them, Zayn takes a peek at her thoughts. She doesn’t have any negativity associated with him or Louis. She doesn’t seem to mind that they’re sitting together or anything. It’s just Harry who’s antsy, and would definitely be floating if he didn’t have his ankle weights on.

After just a second of thought, Zayn reaches out to him. _Harry. She’s happy with you. It’s okay._

Harry glances over to him, smiling a little. _Thanks_. But he doesn’t hold Louis’ hand until after she’s back in the kitchen. Well, he tries to then. But Louis first zaps his hand with an audible sound and then yanks himself away. “I have to go,” he says. “My mum texted me a little bit ago, I have to babysit my sisters.”

“Lou,” Harry says.

“See all of you in class together,” Louis says. He thinks one thing at Zayn fiercely on his way out; _don’t you dare tell him anything._

“We should go too,” Liam says after a second. “Thanks for having us.”

“No problem,” Harry says glumly.

Zayn feels obligated to listen to Louis. So when Harry plods over to him and curls up against Zayn, he doesn’t say anything. Even when Harry’s is insinuating his way against Zayn’s chest and murmurs, “He’s mad at me, isn’t he,” Zayn doesn’t really answer.

“I can’t let you cheat,” he says. “You know him. You know what he is. And don’t ask me for that again.”

“Okay. I’m sorry.” Harry flops his arms against Zayn’s chest. If it were anyone else, he’d be hitting Zayn in frustration, but he’s too gentle. He sighs. “Zayn.” When Zayn doesn’t answer at first, Harry leans closer, nesting his face up against Zayn’s neck. “Zayn.”

Zayn locks eyes with Perrie over Harry’s curls. “What?” he says, slightly strained.

“I’m sorry I asked you to do immoral things with your power. And I’m sad. Comfort me.”

Zayn hesitantly wraps an arm around Harry’s shoulders. “There there.”

Perrie leans forward and unstraps Harry’s ankle weights. “These can’t make you feel any better,” she says. “Your body wants to float, let it.”

“Thank you.” Harry snuggles right up against Zayn, doubling his arms around his waist and fitting himself under one of Zayn’s arms. “Can I stay here for a while?” he asks. “If it’s freaking you out, you can say no.”

“I won’t say no,” Zayn sighs after a second.

“Can you make me feel better?” Harry asks sadly.

Zayn kisses his hair after a second of thought. “No,” he says. “I’m sorry. I can’t do that every time. It wasn’t even my fault this time.”

“Yeah.” Harry sighs, then asks Perrie. “Can _you_ take it?”

“Sorry, babe. Emotional pain is out of my range.” She rubs his ankle, where the weights left imprints.

“How come everybody but him knows how I feel?” Harry sighs despondently. He’s being dramatic on purpose, but Zayn decides to humor him.

He pets his hair. “Does that make sense?”

“No.”

“Then it’s probably not true.”

Harry sighs again. “Probably. I guess.”

“You’ll have to talk to him.”

“I _know_.”

“Okay.”

Harry’s thoughts are nearly instantly apologetic for getting snappy. He kisses Zayn’s chest. “You’re so nice,” he murmurs. “Thank you.”

“Sure.”

Harry’s mum comes back in, but Harry makes no effort to move. “Where’s Louis?” she asks.

“He had to go,” Perrie says. “And we probably should too.”

“Nice to have you,” she smiles. “See you again sometime.”

“Yeah, sure,” Zayn nods best he can. She leaves, and Harry nudges closer. “You stayed,” Zayn says.

“Yeah? So?”

“You didn’t when it was Louis.”

“It was different with Louis. I _like_ Louis.”

“Hey.” Zayn fakes offense, then gives in. “But maybe you should consider why Louis got angry. He hates being mad at you.”

“Yeah.” Harry drags the word out long. He’s thinking about how much he really doesn’t want to talk, though, so Zayn stops.

“Just think about it. I’m sorry. I’ll shut up.”

“Should I leave you two alone?” Perrie speaks up, a little sarcastic.

Zayn shakes his head. “Please don’t.”

Perrie laughs and extends her legs so her feet are tangled in Zayn’s – and Harry’s, which kind of ruins the mood, but it’s nice nonetheless. “You’re a good friend,” she tells Zayn. “Touch freaks you out?”

“Yeah, sometimes. I mean if I’m not used to it. And if I touch skin, my powers… get supercharged or something. I can see everything in their head.”

“I don’t mind,” Harry says. “I love you seeing things. I like knowing one person understands me better than I do. It’s nice.”

“I guess,” Perrie says, but she doesn’t buy it. “If you don’t have anything to hide.”

“I don’t,” Harry shrugs. “Or maybe I do, but I don’t mind, though. Zayn never uses it for nefarious purposes. He’s really nice. You should date him.

“Thanks, Haz. I’ve got this under control,” Zayn says, blushing because Perrie’s laughing. “Shut up.”

“You shut up.” Harry adjusts his arms.

“Very polite of you,” Perrie teases.

“I think I should let go, let him bump into the ceiling,” Zayn suggests.

“Fuck that,” Perrie shrugs. “Take him outside, let him float away.”

“Hey.” Harry glares. “That’s not very nice.” He clings tighter.

“Would you let go for a second?” Zayn asks. “Please? I want to see if you’re floating.”

Harry sighs, lets go of all but one of Zayn’s hands. His weight on Zayn gradually decreases, and then he drifts upwards, like a balloon with barely enough helium. “Okay?” Harry says unhappily. “You satisfied?”

“Why don’t you like flying?” Perrie asks. “It seems amazing. Aside from getting hit by birds or lightening or something.”

“No, I’m weatherproof.” Harry concentrates, frowning, and makes himself go back down a little. “And I guess I do like flying. But I wish I could control it more.”

“You and everybody else,” Perrie says. “Powers are hard.”

“Zayn has control,” Harry sulks.

“Yeah. Zayn has control because if he didn’t, he’d know everyone’s secrets, and he’s a spectacular person and doesn’t want to do that to anyone,” Perrie says irritably. “You just bump into the ceiling. It’ll come.”

“I want it now. Zayn, can you tell me how to control it?”

“I dunno. Take deep breaths.”

“Zayn.” Harry pulls himself back down, curling against Zayn again. “Be helpful.”

“I don’t know how your thing works,” Zayn shrugs.

“It’s like jumping on a trampoline. But pushing off air.”

“Maybe practice,” Zayn says. “But I dunno. That’s not my job.”

“Right, sorry, okay.” Harry’s sad. He snuggles against Zayn, his thoughts heavy and gloomy. “Sorry,” he repeats.

“It’s okay,” Zayn sighs after a second. “I know you’re just upset.”

“Yeah.”

“I should leave soon, though.”

“Me too,” Perrie chimes in.

“Oh. Yeah, alright. Sorry.” Harry stretches and floats up a few feet. “You’re awesome friends.”

“You too.” Zayn reaches up and gives him a high-five. “I’ll see you, alright?”

“Okay. Thanks. Again.” Harry high-fives Perrie when she stands up too. “I like you,” he says. “You should join our group, that’d be awesome.”

“I’ll see what I can do, flyboy.”

Zayn laughs at that and he’s instantly ashamed. Perrie snorts, and Harry looks back and forth between the two of them. “Wait,” he says.

“Nope. I have to go. Bye.” Zayn flees the house. He can still Harry figuring it out after he’s left, though, so that doesn’t exactly help.

 

 

“So,” Harry says the instant he sees Zayn the next day.

“No,” Zayn stops him. “We aren’t having this conversation.”

“You like her,” Harry says happily. “Really like her.”

“I don’t like anything. And I especially don’t like you. Did you talk to Lou?”

“Yeah,” Harry nods. “And it was nice. I said sorry and he said it’s okay, and we’ll talk more tomorrow. So we’re all okay. But what about you? Does she like you?”

“I don’t know.”

“You do!”

“I don’t. I don’t cheat.”

Harry sighs. “Fine. But you seen Louis? I want to talk to him sooner rather than later. I like him so much.”

“Hold on. I’ll look.” Zayn expands his range a little, looking for Louis’ sharp thoughts. He finds them a good hundred feet away, maybe two, and they’re odd. He leaves a tangy, bitter aftertaste in Zayn’s mouth. “Harry,” Zayn begins.

Perrie runs up to them. “Zayn, y’know where Louis is?” she says, out of breath.

“We’re just trying to figure that out,” Zayn says. “He’s that way, I think.” He points towards the school.

“Really? ‘Cause someone’s hurt that way. And I think it’s him.”

Harry goes pale. “What?”

Liam and Niall come up. “Hey guys,” Niall says. “Where’s-“

“No,” Zayn snaps. He has to push Harry out of his mind to get a good read on Louis; panic isn’t exactly helpful. “He’s trying to fight someone, zapping them. He’s scared of falling.”

Perrie points. “Roof.”

People are screaming, because there’s Louis, being dangled off the edge by a figure. Zayn can’t get a grasp on its thoughts, and now he’s scared. “He’s trying to shock him, but nothing’s- Harry, no,” Zayn interrupts himself. “Don’t fly up yet. He’s got a gun on his hip. We’ll have to distract him first.”

“Tell Louis to shock him for five solid seconds. Count with him out loud,” Perrie says. She takes a deep breath.

Zayn pushes through Louis’ panic to say _Louis. It’s Zayn. Shock the dude for five seconds, count out loud._

Louis forces himself to focus. _Okay._ _One_ …

Zayn counts simultaneously with him out loud. On four, thunder rumbles, and on five, lightning arcs out of a sky and hones in on the two figures on the edge of the roof. Louis directs the lightning through himself. The person lets go. Louis starts falling.

“Get him,” Perrie says to Harry. “He’s not hurt, just grab him so he doesn’t die.”

Harry nods, his mind calm. He bends his knees like he’s jumping, but takes off towards Louis. He flies with his hands clasped in front of him, a little weird but it does the trick. He catches Louis, dropping with some of his momentum, and wobbles his way back to them. “There’s someone on the ground chasing me,” Harry says as they land. “It’s bad.”

“Why just us?” Liam demands.

Zayn’s listening hard, but “This guy doesn’t have thoughts either. Something’s weird about this.”

“Everybody run. We need to keep them away from Zayn until he figures out what’s going on,” Perrie says. “He needs to be out of this.”

“Got it,” Niall volunteers. He concentrates and a square couple feet of grass freezes over. He motions upwards with both hands and a cube of frozen dirt rises. “In,” he says.

Zayn frowns. “No, I can fight.”

“No time for macho shit, please,” Perrie says. “I need you safe. I don’t want to lose you before we’ve kissed.” Her eyes look like they’re sparking blue, like the center of a candle. “Listen to everything. Tell us anything that might help.”

“Oh,” Zayn manages. He’s proud of that. He’s slightly less proud of how he immediately gets in the hole. Niall freezes over the top, about a solid six inches of ice. He’s cold, but safe.

There’s no time to dwell on Perrie. He clears out his emotions to make room for five other minds and then finds them, one by one. Niall and Liam are acting in tandem, almost thinking that way. Louis gets another lightning bolt from Perrie to supercharge his electrical powers, absorbs it and shots it in crackling bursts out his palms. Niall and Liam are freezing and burning a double barrier around them, jumping flames and a wall of ice.

 _Zayn_ , Perrie thinks. _Can you see their minds yet?_

_Nothing. They’re empty. There’s nothing there. I don’t think they’re people._

_ROBOTS_ , Harry’s thoughts shriek. _Louis fried the circuits, robots._

Zayn projects his thoughts to everyone. _They’re robots. Either we’re being attacked by a technopath or this is a test._

 _Good_ , Perrie thinks savagely. Her thoughts spark as she summons lightning bolts. Niall goes cool; he freezes circuits and joints. Liam melts them now that he knows they’re not people. Harry carries Louis with him as he flies, hugging him close as Louis channels lightning into each individual bot.

It’s precise; no students are injured. But it’s also fun, kind of. Zayn feels like a commander. He’s got five versions of the battlefield in his head. Niall and Liam turn it into a bit of a competitive game. Harry’s buoyant with happiness, and Louis is so careful to not shock him. And Perrie. She’s as vicious Louis. They both are enjoying this a little too much. And that just makes Zayn like them more.

When it’s over, Niall melts the ice, turning it to steam before it soaks Zayn, and Harry pulls him up. Perrie grabs his hand, hers still crackling a little with energy. “That was fantastic,” she says breathlessly.

“I could feel you directing us,” Harry says happily, floating a few feet off the ground with Louis piggyback on him. “Telling us who to go to, so we didn’t get in each others’ way.”

“That lightning was fantastic,” Louis speaks up. “I felt powerful as hell.”

“Wait,” Liam says. “So who was testing us?”

Principal Powers flies down and materializes in front of them, smiling. “I was,” she says. “If you could come with me, we have an assembly this morning.”

“An _assembly_ ,” Louis repeats.

“I promise this will all make sense. Just come.”

“Zayn,” Perrie murmurs as they start walking – or in Harry’s case, flying. He’s a lot better at it now; Zayn resolves to ask him about it. But now, he answers Perrie.

“Absolutely.” _I’m keeping an ear open,_ he tells everybody.

 _You’re amazing,_ Harry says happily.

 _I love you_ , Louis is thinking at Harry.

 _I can’t wait to kiss you,_ Perrie tells Zayn.

And Zayn blushes and holds her hand and feels altogether too stupid to be anybody’s lookout.

They sit together at the front of the auditorium, where the principal tells them to be. Zayn sits between Perrie and Harry and stays vigilant.

“Good morning, students,” Principal Powers begins once everyone’s sitting. “Today begins our teamwork tests. They began rather spectacularly with an ace performance from this group here in the front. I think we can all understand that they’re the standard to live up to; no casualties, no injuries, and a great demonstration of working together. I’m proud to call them my students.”

 _She’s for real_ , Zayn says, before pulling out of everybody’s heads but Harry’s.

Perrie holds his hand while they watch a play-by-play of what happened. Zayn doesn’t feel any less stupid watching himself get in the hole, but Principal Powers says it’s exactly what they should’ve done.

“Since the opponents weren’t human, a telepath’s best strength is connecting the group, which Zayn did unconsciously. They also worked in pairs, using each other to have stronger attacks. See how Perrie uses Louis to direct her lightning? That was textbook. These tests are for freshman class only, and after yours are completed, you’re allowed to go home for the week.”

The six of them kinda stop listening after that. As soon as they’re allowed, hey leave. Harry flies home with Louis, blushing. Zayn hears the uproar in their head when they kiss a few minutes later.

“Why are you smiling?” Perrie asks.

“Nothing.” They start walking. Liam and Niall took Liam’s car, so it’s just them.

“Did you hear me? In the assembly?” Perrie says next.

“Yeah,” Zayn says after a second of consideration. “Is that okay?”

“That’s perfect.” She swings their connected hands. “So do you want to wait for something beautiful to happen? I could make it snow or something.”

“No. I think I could just kiss you.”

“Oh? Then go for it.”

Zayn stops and kisses her. His hands go to her hips, and hers hold his face. It’s wonderful. But Zayn has to stop. “You know I can hear you really clear, right?” he says. “When we kiss.”

“I know,” she says. “I’m okay with that.”

“Okay.”

They keep kissing. At the risk of a pun, Zayn thinks she’s electric. And then Harry sings out _ZAYN_ , loud and happily, and Zayn breaks apart, wincing.

“Ow,” he mumbles. “Jesus. Sorry, Harry’s shouting for me.”

“In a bad way?”

“No. Hold on.” _Busy,_ he calls back. _Save that for emergencies_.

 _I’m having an emergency right now!_ Harry insists. _Louis told me he loves me._

_Okay. Deal with it on your own for now. I’ve kind of got a thing going on too._

_Sorry. He loves me. Sorry._ Harry fades back out.

“Sorry,” Zayn says aloud. “In other news Louis finally kissed Harry and told him he loves him.”

“Wow. Big day.”

“Yeah. But I told him to leave me alone. ‘Cause I kind of want to ask you out.”

Perrie just looks at him for a second, mouth twisted in amusement. “Okay,” she says. ”Good. I was worried I’d have to do it myself.”

“Nah, I’ve got it under control.”

“Okay. Sexy.” She waggles her eyebrows. “Did you know I’d find that sexy?”

“Nope. I don’t read your thoughts. It’s cheating.”

“Alright. Thanks. Then maybe this could work.”

“Maybe?”

Perrie laughs and the sun seems to shine a little brighter. “Okay,” she gives in. “More than maybe. Let’s snog some more.”

Zayn doesn’t have a problem with that. 


End file.
